AMMONIUM CHLORIDE GROWTHS D. I. GLEIM Mechanicsburg High School, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
L
ATE in May, 1932, a t the close of school, two bottles of hydrochloric acid and one of ammonium hydroxide were placed in a row within a locker in the chemical laboratom. They remained undisturbed for a period of eight months, during which time growths appeared, as illustrated in Figure 1. The growths were pure white and were found to be hollow. Their surfaces were not smooth but consisted of slight spirally arranged elevations and depressions encircling the structures (Figure 2 ) . At irregular intervals small cone-shaped pro j e ctions grew out of the
main bodies; one formation had three and the other seven of these radiating growths. A partial explanation of the formation of these ammonium chloride prowtbs is found in the resoective diffusion rates of ammonia and hydrogen chloride. As might be expected maximum precipitation takes place in the region of the bottles containing the hydrochloric acid. We a r e now attempting to duplicate these formations under controlled conditions with a view to formulating a more detailed hypothesis to account for the details of their structure.
